New EDA Head Kallas calls for EU Single Market for defence

The European Union must bind its defence industry close together and develop weapons systems collaboratively, the new Head of the European Defence Agency (EDA), High Representative Kaja Kallas, told the 2025 EDA Annual Conference. She also called for the Agency to do more.  “We need to consolidate our defence industry and develop common weapons systems,” Kallas said. “Our European defence industry could then utilise the same military systems and help Member States’ militaries become more interoperable ... the EU should also work towards establishing a Single Market for Defence.” Kallas said that the EU does not require a single European armed force but rather 27 militaries capable of working together to deter and defend against any threat, particularly from Russia. Addressing over 400 participants at the Concert Noble in Brussels and more than 800 online attendees, Kallas’ vision reinforced the EDA’s mission as it leads Europe’s response to renewed security challenges. In her first major policy speech since taking office in December, Kallas warned that the time for papers and declarations had passed. “Russia’s defence industry is churning out tanks, artillery shells, and glide bombs faster than we can match. This is a heavily militarised country, spending over a third of its national budget on the military, three times what it spent before the war. We must be realistic about the scale of this threat,” she said. Sławomir Wojciechowski, Poland’s Military Representative...